Media reports recently stated that SPE-owned Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has hired Disney Star executive Gaurav Bannerjee as its next CEO, although there is no official word from the company.
“We just announced that our CEO (NP Singh) is retiring, and we are looking to replace him very aggressively. We have a long list of very good candidates that we can choose from to lead that business (SPNI),” Vinciquerra said during the Sony Group Corporation’s Business Segment Meeting 2024 today .
Sources had earlier told ET that SPNI is looking at both internal and external candidates for the top job. Recently, the company stated that it has initiated the search for Singh’s successor.
Singh, who has been with SPNI for the greater part of nearly three decades, has been the MD and CEO of SPNI since 2014. He will transition to an advisory role once the new CEO takes charge.
The development comes four months after the company’s merger agreement with Zee Entertainment collapsed. The merger deal was key to SPNI’s ambition of scaling up in the Indian market.”After nearly 44 years in my career, including a rewarding 25-year tenure at SPNI, I have decided to move on from my role as MD and CEO,” Singh said in an internal email on May 24.”Having reached many significant milestones with our team, I am now ready to focus on social change and shift from operational roles to advisory ones,” he added.
Singh also said SPNI has begun structured succession planning to find the new CEO. “Finding the right fit is our top priority,” he noted.
SPNI is the consumer-facing identity of Culver Max Entertainment, which is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, Japan.
The company reaches out to over 700 million viewers in India through its 26 channels, which are also available in 167 countries.
